Smart Cities Challenge

Consultation has concluded

The City of Mississauga participated in the Government of Canada’s Smart Cities Challenge. The Challenge encouraged communities to submit their ideas of how to improve the lives of residents through innovation, data and connected technology. Although Mississauga was not selected as part of the shortlist of communities, the City intends to move forward with its Smart Cities Master Plan.

What is a Smart City?

Smart cities around the world are using data and technology to find new and innovative ways to improve their communities. These smart city ideas can provide solutions to:

advance transportation and ease traffic congestion

improve the environment

enhance access to services

ensure public safety

ease the effects of extreme weather

facilitate education

further access to social services and more.

Mississauga has already implemented many smart city initiatives including free public Wi-Fi, open data, hackathons, fibre network, Advanced Traffic Management, LED Lighting, mobile apps and more.

Through this online engagement site, online survey, public events and community outreach, we engaged residents, industry and agency partners to help us to develop a Smart City Master Plan and our Smart Cities Challenge submission. We asked how we could make Mississauga even better by using technology, data and innovation. The feedback and ideas received were used to create our submission. Here is a brief video of highlights from our community engagement:

The City of Mississauga's full submission has been uploaded here. For more information on Mississauga’s Smart City projects, please visit our Smart City website.

The Smart Cities Challenge was launched in 2017 as part of theImpact Canada Initiative to help communities of all sizes improve the lives of their residents through innovation, data and connected technology. The program is delivered by Infrastructure Canada and will contribute $300M in three rounds of competition funding over 11 years.

The City of Mississauga participated in the Government of Canada’s Smart Cities Challenge. The Challenge encouraged communities to submit their ideas of how to improve the lives of residents through innovation, data and connected technology. Although Mississauga was not selected as part of the shortlist of communities, the City intends to move forward with its Smart Cities Master Plan.

What is a Smart City?

Smart cities around the world are using data and technology to find new and innovative ways to improve their communities. These smart city ideas can provide solutions to:

advance transportation and ease traffic congestion

improve the environment

enhance access to services

ensure public safety

ease the effects of extreme weather

facilitate education

further access to social services and more.

Mississauga has already implemented many smart city initiatives including free public Wi-Fi, open data, hackathons, fibre network, Advanced Traffic Management, LED Lighting, mobile apps and more.

Through this online engagement site, online survey, public events and community outreach, we engaged residents, industry and agency partners to help us to develop a Smart City Master Plan and our Smart Cities Challenge submission. We asked how we could make Mississauga even better by using technology, data and innovation. The feedback and ideas received were used to create our submission. Here is a brief video of highlights from our community engagement:

The City of Mississauga's full submission has been uploaded here. For more information on Mississauga’s Smart City projects, please visit our Smart City website.

The Smart Cities Challenge was launched in 2017 as part of theImpact Canada Initiative to help communities of all sizes improve the lives of their residents through innovation, data and connected technology. The program is delivered by Infrastructure Canada and will contribute $300M in three rounds of competition funding over 11 years.

CLOSED: This discussion has concluded.

Do the Submission Ideas have to incorporate data and connected technology or can it just be an innovative idea?

Jeorje
asked
11 months ago

Thanks very much for your question. We are interested in all innovative ideas which look at ways to make Mississauga an even better city.

There have been widespread concerns within the city, region, and globally, about the paradoxical worsening of light pollution due to LEDs. These lights, while more efficient, are also dramatically brighter blue light, which shines far beyond the intended "cone" range, into homes, backyards, and, most concerning, into the sky, marine areas, and natural areas. Such light pollution is more than just a nuisance, but an incredible waste, while further fragmenting "core habitat" in natural areas, as light goes deeper (and again, bluer) into these habitats. The issue of blue and bright light can be remedied immediately, as these advanced systems should have capability to change their hue to redder/orange colours (as widely recommended), as well as dimmed, with minimal impact on lifespan (with cost savings, reduced pollution, and less stress on human/plants/animals). Further reductions in light pollution must be taken on all installations through physical modifications to the structure, most likely with the addition of "reflective cone" coverings, which only direct light downward, up to a 45 degree angle in any direction, as well as the reduction of some light poles, in areas where they are too densely located (shifting these resources to areas where there are too few, or saving the infrastructure for future replacement as needed).
In conclusion, I would like these concerns and recommendations to be publicly addressed before any further LED infrastructure is installed without proper research on the impacts, and adoption of best practices.
More on this issue:
https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/satellites-show-leds-spreading-light-pollution/89740/
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/energy-efficient-light-bulbs-increase-light-pollution-1.4410756

The City of Mississauga has recently completed the conversion of
approximately 50,000 street lights to LED lights. The conversion has
significantly reduced maintenance costs by 50% and has resulted in in a 63%
reduction in energy consumption to date for the City.

Prior to undertaking the conversion, the City researched the light
effects from LED street lights to establish the lighting requirements for the
project.

Mississauga’s roadway illumination levels are designed to meet the
guidelines of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America’s RP-08-14
manual that is widely used by municipalities across North America. The
LED street lights are directional in nature, projecting light only on the road
and sidewalk areas. They reduce the amount of light pollution and are
compliant with the International Dark Sky Association in terms of being
dark-sky friendly by reducing sky glow.

The LED street lights used in Mississauga have a colour
temperature of 4,000 to 4,200 Kelvin which falls within the colour spectrum of
moonlight and is below the blue colour spectrum. The white light of
LED provides a safer light with better visibility and clarity to both
pedestrians and motorists.

In addition, the City uses a street lighting monitoring system
with the ability to check the status of the street lights including
malfunctions and energy consumption in real time. The system includes
adaptive or dimming capabilities to emit only the amount of light required by
the standards adopted by the City.

How will this connect to our other strategies and plans (there is expectation by now that such connections have begun to be explored and made, before a full consultation, internally), particularly our DT21, Ward Master Plans, LGMP, and Climate Strategy?

winterseeking-iom7ve
asked
12 months ago

Thank you for your question. Yes, the Smart City Master Plan
will take into consideration all of our other existing and developing Master
Plans. City staff and our partner the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) will be
creating the Smart Cities Challenge submission and Smart City Master Plan and
as part of the process we will be reviewing all master plans and strategic
documents.

Stages of the Project

Phase 1 - Public Consultation

Phase 2 - Drafting the Plan

Contributions to this consultation are closed for evaluation and review. The Project team will report back on key outcomes.

Phase 3 - Final Submission

Smart Cities Challenge is currently at this stage

We have entered our submission in the federal government's Smart Cities Challenge. More information about the content of the submission will be available here in mid-May. Please refer to the documents section of this site to see background documents and the presentation to General Committee for details about the submission.